Technology Debt isn’t a new name, basically it refers to failed attempts in drafting competent software development projects. These losses are sometimes produced by not keeping the future time into consideration and the efforts that needs to be consumed if shortcuts fail.
Fiscal executives however, should see technology debt and the aspects which lead to the ineffective use of technology in a different way than IT professionals see. The risk linked with an inefficient IT company may prove to be the biggest threat to your company, probably costing thousands of dollars if you fail to keep up or ignore the evolutions of your company and damage your repute.
Basic Essentials of Technology Debt
The very first ingredient of technology debt is inefficient technology leadership. Usually, around 30% of the complete debt load can be indorsed to the fact of hiring the wrong IT leadership team. In most of the cases, the CFP doesn’t recognize the potential qualities of an IT leader. Well, the IT leaders should know the right strategies to carry out and manage the basic applications, provide important data and develop good customer experience and employee satisfaction. All in all, they should be true business leaders
Second factor responsible for technology debt is inefficient oversight. With over 25% of the technology debt occurring due to deficiency in discipline, strategic concentration and reporting, inefficient oversight is one of the major problems leading to technology debt. At the third number, stands outdated system. Yes, around a 20% of the debt factor comprises of malfunctioning and outdated systems. The systems could range from Excel sheets to Access systems, just anything!
Misusing is yet another reason adding up to 15% of the debt occurrence. It can be caused by either over-spending or under-spending or simply by misallocation of the resources. One should setup spending standards by searching it among similar sized companies of your genre and analyzing the capabilities of your competitor. Lastly, at 10% stands chaos. Yes, usually tech organizations have a lot of cross functional ways, incoherence, separate systems and conflicting data which leads to chaos and malfunctioning of the company.
How to get Out of Technology Debt?
Once you have evaluated the level of technology debt, you can follow these steps to improve your fiscal condition:
- Evaluate your IT functions. Go for a deep study of your IT department sources, its system, its framework, budget and the projects. Tagline your present condition along with the spending on the running and new projects. Rank your priorities and learn how to manage them effectively
- Introduce specific reporting processes. Opt for month ending reporting processes and specific IT reporting. It not only marks the current status of your projects and company but also prioritizes your initiatives, management issues, resource updates, monitoring data etc.
- Go for project governance. Modify technology investments to support your organizational strategy via project governance. Review your priorities from time to time with the right business strategy. Form a committee and a decision making team to support your time to time decisions.
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